Financial giant UBS AG has beaten British trading shop Man Group in a bidding war for Dutch bank ABN-Amro’s futures and commodities trading business, sources close to the deal told The Post.

UBS is expected to announce the acquisition as soon as next week and, while the exact price is still being negotiated, sources said it will eventually fetch between $300 million and $400 million.

ABN Amro has been shopping the unit – which trades everything from oil to coffee and grains – for the last six months and narrowed the bidders down to Man and UBS a few weeks ago.

Man Group, which paid $323 million to acquire the assets of bankrupt trading giant Refco last year, had trouble meeting the capital requirements needed to take on ABN Amro’s customer accounts, sources said.

“They needed a large bank like UBS in order to absorb the trading accounts” said one source close to the deal.

The purchase will boost UBS’ already substantial presence in the metals and energy markets at a time when commodities are red hot and gaining new customers on a daily basis. Morgan Stanley chief John Mack said earlier this week that his firm was looking to acquire a commodities business as a way to fuel growth.

ABN Amro has a presence on nearly all of the world’s futures and commodities exchanges including the Chicago Board of Trade, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Alan Zavarro, head of ABN Amro’s futures business, did not immediately return a call for comment nor did a spokesman for UBS.